I have two problems reading poetry: first, 'Selected Poems' are always too long, but also rarely representative; second, 'Collected Poems' are always way too long; third, individual books of poetry always contain more crap than gem. This confirms my hard-won insights. Lowell's best poems are really, really great- in this book I recommend Beyond the Alps, During Fever, Man and Wife, Skunk Hour; Middle Age, Those Before Us, Eye and Tooth, Law, The Drinker, Jonathan Edwards, Caligula, For the Union Dead. I'll be re-reading them. If I ever have to read another poem about some poet's holiday to South America, on the other hand... ( )

Plugged away at this off and on over a few weeks, reading it on coffee breaks at Starbucks, lunch hour in Frist, buses. Not with my comfort reading at home in the bath. Finally finished it today while waiting for a bus at the mall.Interesting. Bits of masculine emotion and childhood I had difficulty relating to, bits of history I liked, faintly religious musings I was fascinated by, and at the very end some moments from a breakdown, and after, that justified the entire boof to me and made me understand why Alvarez considered it such an important book.The style.. I'll have to read it again just to absorb the nuances... rhymes so subtle I missed them on first reading, rhythm faint, never jarring.But much of it didn't grip me, quite. ( )

This was a difficult read for me to get through--there were a few poems here and there that stood out as ones I'd want to come back to, but most of them were interesting enough as I pass them...but they didn't stop me in any way. The poems in these volumes that you've heard of, you've heard of for a reason...but the others fade into the background much too easily. ( )